- Former Jacksonville Jaguars Employee Amit Patel stole more than $22M from the team from 2019 to 2021
- Patel is serving 6 ½ years in Florida federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud and an illegal monetary transaction in December 2023.
- Nick Watts with CNN interviewed Patel about the situation in Sunday’s episode of The Whole Story
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Amit Patel, a former financial manager for the Jacksonville Jaguars, is serving federal prison time for stealing over $22M to fund his gambling habits.
Patel’s story comes in the midst of nationwide concerns for gambling addiction, most notably through mobile betting apps. These issues present as lawmakers push for stricter regulations concerning legal sports betting.
CNN interviewed Patel inside a Florida federal prison.
The former Jaguars employee is behind bars after using millions of dollars siphoned from a Jaguars’ business account to fund his luxury lifestyle. Patel pled guilty to wire fraud and other charges back in December 2023.
Patel told CNN,
“What I did was illegally borrow money by using the Jaguars company credit card. The little voice in my head was like, ‘Hey, just use the credit card. We’ll win some money. We’ll put it back, and no one will ever know.”
Patel’s attorney argues that his client is suffering from a gambling addiction, at his worst, depositing over $25,000 into his FanDuel account up to 10 times a day.
Patel claims that the company gave him over a million dollars in gambling credits, and was frequently contacted by his personal host “up to 100 times a day”.
The ex-Jags employee claims his host would pressure him into wagering if he had not already done so, happening at all times of the day, which led to Patel’s excessive use of the platform that operates in many states with daily fantasy sports.
The company sent Patel on multiple luxury vacations, including trips to the Masters and Super Bowl tournaments.
FanDuel told news outlets that the company cannot comment on specifics regarding litigation; however, the New York-based sports betting site gave a statement affirming that it follows all problem gambling laws.
Patel is set to appear in Duval County court on September 16 on grand theft charges.
